Marty Bergen

Who was Marty Bergen?

Martin "Marty" Bergen was an American Major League Baseball player from 1896 to 1899. He played in 344 games during his four-year career with the Boston Beaneaters, 337 of them as their catcher. Bergen helped the Beaneaters to two straight National League pennants and a second-place finish in 1899.

As a catcher, Bergen was considered defensively superior to his contemporaries. A 2001 article about him described him as "a nimble fielder with a bullwhip arm who could snap the ball to second base without so much as moving his feet". In 1900, future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett characterized Bergen as the best catcher in baseball history.

Bergen suffered from apparent mental illness. By 1899, he experienced hallucinations, had to be removed from a game due to odd behavior, and walked off from the team train during a trip to Boston. On January 19, 1900, he killed his wife and two children, then took his own life. Despite this, he received one vote in both 1938 and 1939 to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.